Fielder wins home run derby
For a Fielder, he sure can hit.
Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers homered six times in the final round to win Major League Baseball's all-star home run derby at St. Louis on Monday.
Fielder, the son of retired Toronto Blue Jays slugger Cecil Fielder, needed 13 swings to beat Nelson Cruz of the Texas Rangers, who homered five times in the final round.
"I'm just happy," Fielder said. "It was pretty cool to actually win one."
Fielder launched the decisive homer, his sixth in the final round and 23rd of the three-round competition, to straightaway centre field — one of 11 homers he hit more than 450 feet.
The burly first baseman thrilled the capacity crowd of 45,981 at Busch Stadium with a 497-foot homer in the first round and a 503-footer in the second round.
"I'm not quite sure about my mechanics," Fielder said. "I just know I have to swing hard.
"In high school, a lot of people told me to swing easier and everything. But I just don't know how to do that."
Cruz and Fielder were the first hitters in the competition — and the last.
Cruz kicked off the competition with 11 homers in the opening round, capping his turn with a blast that travelled 471 feet into the concourse in left centre.
Fielder was the second contestant on the night and matched Cruz's 11 first-round homers.
Both sluggers tailed off considerably in the semifinal, in part because they had waited roughly two hours for their turn at bat.
"I knew what to expect this time, so I was a little more relaxed," said Fielder, who was knocked out in the first round in 2007.
| PLAYER | ROUND 1 | SWING-OFF | SEMIFINAL | FINAL |
| Prince Fielder, MIL | 11 | -- | 6 | 6 |
| Nelson Cruz, TEX | 11 | -- | 5 | 5 |
| Ryan Howard, PHI | 7 | -- | 8 | -- |
| Albert Pujols, STL | 5 | 2 | 6 | -- |
| Carlos Pena, TB | 5 | 1 | -- | -- |
| Joe Mauer, MIN | 5 | 0 | -- | -- |
| Adrian Gonzalez, SD | 2 | -- | -- | -- |
| Brandon Inge, DET | 0 | -- | -- | -- |
A pair of big boppers with St. Louis connections, Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols, were eliminated in the semifinal.
Howard, who plays for the Philadelphia Phillies but was raised in St. Louis, thumped 15 homers, and Pujols of the hometown Cardinals finished with 11 homers.
"This is Albert's stadium and Ryan is from here," Fielder said. "I was just happy I was able to put on a show and I'm glad I won."
Pujols survived the first round with a late rally, homering twice with one out remaining to force a swing-off, which he took 2-1 to advance to the semifinal.
"I wish I would have put a better show for our fans," Pujols said. "I was nervous a little bit."
Pujols, an eight-time all-star, leads the major leagues in home runs (32) and runs batted in (87), and ranks among the leaders with a .332 batting average as he bids to become the first winner of baseball's Triple Crown since Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.
Pujols also topped all players in fan balloting with 5,397,374 votes, the second-highest total in all-star annals behind Ken Griffey Jr. in 1994 (6,079,688).
With files from The Associated Press